Potty Training A Strong-Willed Child

Thank you to Stuck On You, Little Partners and Bambo Nature for sponsoring this post. As always all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

I’ve potty trained many children in my day, but Izzy has been by far the hardest. Why? She’s strong-willed and well going through a defiant phase. Plus I’m mom and that means she pretty much says no to everything I request.. so I’ve had to get smarter. Pulling out tricks from my teaching days!

Here are the tricks I picked up to get Izzy sitting on the potty and interested in potty training. Because me asking or bribing her to sit on the potty, wasn’t working.

1. Sticker Chart

But it’s not just having one, it’s how you introduce it. When sharing the sticker chart I acted super (overly) excited about it and even let Izzy put one sticker on. (So she could see how cool it was.) Also change it up. We got our sticker charts from Stuck On You and I love how each in the pack are different. So once she fills the sheet there is a new one to get excited about. She loved picking out which sticker she got to put on the chart. We started off with a sticker for sitting (because she was refusing to sit) and then the next day moved to a sticker for peeing or pooping.

2. Treats

At first I had a jar of jelly beans out, but it wasn’t enough to get Izzy to sit and even try. I gave her a treat for sitting, then after a day of that, she only got one for peeing and 2 for pooping.

Izzy picked between jelly beans and black olives. I know, not many toddlers love black olives like mine.

This means we did a sticker chart and she got a treat every time she peed. I took this picture of her with all the black olives after she peed on the potty for the 1st time… after fighting me about even sitting on it. Yes she got more than 1 treat, we wanted to make it a big deal! With the sticker & treat incentives I slowly weaned them out. First we stopped doing the sticker starts. I just told her they were all done, but that she still gets a treat. Now she gets a treat once in a while if she asks. She stays dry all day now! If we go to the gym and she stays dry for the car ride and a the gym I think thats a big deal. Then I give her a treat and tell her, “Wow you stayed dry in the car and at the gym. You went pee on the potty when we got home! Lets go pick out a treat!” Eventually this will be something we wean out too. All in time, don’t feel like you have to rush any part of the potty training process or it honestly just won’t work.

3. Undies and Training Pants

When is comes to training pants there 2 brands I highly suggest. Zoocchini and Bambo Nature make high quality training pants. The Bambo Nature pants we loved for outings or car rides early on in potty training. We have been using their diapers since I found out about them, when Izzy was maybe just over a year. I wish we knew about them longer. I’ve never found such soft diapers and training pants that actually hold in lots of pee and the typical big blow outs. The Zooccini training undies are amazing for at home and later for all day (even out and about). The underwear actually soaks up the pee, meaning you want have it all over the floor… big win! Plus they come in fun colors and with the cutest animals! Izzy loves picking out which one she gets to wear (again another fun incentive). For long car rides we still have Izzy wear her Bambo Nature training pants… just in case.

4. A Portable Potty

You want a small potty that is easy to move around the house. We started with the potty in the room we were hanging in. Mostly the living room/kitchen due to the hardwoods being easy to clean with an oops. There are a lot of kinds our there so you have to find what you think will work best for you and your child. Also if you want your child to poop on the potty keep in mind, they can’t have their legs hanging. They need to have their feet touching the ground so they can push while going. We have an Ubbi portable potty and I like how it turns into a step stool. So now as Izzy has progressed in potty training she uses the stool to get up on the big potty.

5. Furniture to Promote Independence

Little Partners has been a company we are obsessed with for years now. We have one of their towers and Izzy pretty much lives in it when we are in the kitchen. The step stool is now added to list of a favorite! Izzy is able to climb up to wash her hands on her own. Giving her full independence with potty training.

This was a great add in because Izzy knew once she peed or pooped on the potty she got to climb up and wash her hands on her own. This was an amazing incentive for her!